CHRISTOPHER J. PODGES
SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Over twenty-four years experience in the management and provision of Health Care Information Systems services to enhance clinical, financial and operational management effectiveness. Strong emphasis in leadership and administration of information technology personnel and projects, providing innovative business solutions to large, complex health care networks. Extensive experience in strategic planning, project management, product support, proposal development, board interaction and client relations, as well as vendor negotiations and marketing development.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
1999 – PresentMunson Healthcare, Traverse City, Michigan
System Vice President & Chief Information Officer
Munson Healthcare (MHC) is a healthcare system serving 24 counties throughout northern Michigan, owning three hospitals, managing three others, and affiliated with two more hospitals in a regional network.. As V.P./CIO, I am responsible for IT Strategic Planning, Telecommunication, Networking/Infrastructure, Data Center Operations and Applications For the health system. Responsible for all IT projects projects, including a key clinical informatics project, scheduled over the next four to five years, which will bring together a clinical repository where affiliated hospitals, clinics, nurses, physicians and their offices, can contribute to and access patient information, regardless of their point of entry into our network.
As a VP at MunsonMedicalCenter, I have operational responsibility for Pharmacy, Dietary and our Hospitality House.
1997 - 1999Mercy Information Systems, Farmington Hills, Michigan
Vice President, Michigan Region
Mercy Information Systems (MIS) is a subsidiary of Mercy Health Services (MHS), a $2.5 billion dollar health care corporation operating 35 hospitals and related facilities and services, principally in Michigan and Iowa. MIS, the IT provider to MHS, has approximately 600 employees, 15 data centers and an annual budget of approximately $60 million.
As the Vice President for the Michigan Region, my responsibilities were to oversee and manage the planning and delivery of IT to 9 integrated deliveries
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networks (IDN’s) in Michigan. This included hospitals, long term care facilities, home health, ambulatory clinics and one managed care company. I served as the “Michigan CIO” for Mercy Health Services, with a staff of 250 MIS employees (deployed locally and as well as the corporate office), an operating budget of approximately $34 million and a similarly sized capital budget. As such, my responsibilities included the delivery and support of all IT functions for the Michigan based IDN’s. I served on all IDN IT Steering Committees as well as the Michigan CEO, COO and CFO Councils. I also served a primary role on the MIS Executive Management Team, participating in policy, budget and strategy design.
1994 - 1997Vice President, Strategic Planning
I was responsible for the development of the System-wide Information Technology Strategic Plan for MHS. I also directed the activities of regional planners in the development of Hospital and subsidiary corporation plans. In addition, I was also responsible for alliances with strategic partners for Mercy Health Services related to IT initiatives including health information network participation, as well as the selection and contracting of all IT products and services for Mercy Health Services.
1991 - 1994Vice President, Corporation Information Services
Responsible for all Information Systems implementations for MHS and all subsidiaries. Accountable for all market research, and acquisition of all Information Systems assets purchased by MHS. In addition, responsible for all MIS contract negotiations and strategic IT planning services for all Mercy owned entities. Additional duties included the education and implementation of Decision Support Systems, as well as the ClientInformationCenter, a 24 hour, seven day/week customer support and incident tracking function.
1987 - 1991Director, Implementation and Product Selection
Established the department Project Management for implementation services to provide accountability and substantive controls to the implementation process, previously lacking. Directed the activities of nine Project Managers in the implementation of multiple systems ranging in size, budget and complexity from two months to one year. Implementation projects totaled approximately 70 projects per year with budgets totaling $20 million annually.
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1984 – 1987MERSCO Corporation, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Senior Systems Consultant
Served as Lead Consultant for the implementation and support of a wide range of clinical, financial and patient accounting products. Managed project teams accountable for installation and on-going support of implemented software.
1982 - 1984Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
Administrative Assistant
Reported directly to the Chief Operating Officer. Provided operational analysis work for various problematic hospital operations for the 347 bed facility.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Sciences, 1982
MichiganStateUniversity, East Lansing, Michigan
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
CHIME: College of Healthcare Information Management Executives
HIMSS: Health Information and Management Systems Society